Night of the Werewolf Slot
Werewolves and vampires are common creatures that we encounter in horror stories, movies, and our deepest, darkest nightmares. At any time, they are willing collaborators during those spine-chilling moments in our lives where we close our eyes in horror, accompanied by hair-raising screams. And what better way to reproduce some of those spooky moments than making the werewolves the main attraction on a new video slot?
Merkur Gaming, best known for its highly volatile slots, is taking on us on the hunt for the wild beasts on Night of the Werewolves. The provider has been producing some epic games over the past decades – initially for casino floors and more recently for online casino sites. Many of its games have achieved cult status among a huge community of faithful followers, as their sky-high win potential is time and again a cause for celebration.
The Beastly Slot Reels
Open the game to encounter a swampy marsh on a dark night. Rain is falling relentlessly on a game window with five reels, three rows and five fixed paylines. Do not be fooled by the rather simplistic game design – this slot is at the top of the volatility scale. Sharp graphics and crisp animations highlight Merkur’s focus on producing top-quality slots with attention to even the smallest detail. A generic thumping yet dramatic soundtrack is only interrupted by the wild cries of the werewolf when he lands in a winning combination.
Night of the Werewolf has nine pay symbols, all of which appear non-stacked. At the low end, they are the common 10s to As suits. The premium symbols in ascending order of value are represented by a knife with a silver blade, a crossbow with silver arrows, and two hunters. The werewolf is the wild and scatter symbol, substituting for all symbols except special expanding symbols in the free spins. A minimum of three scattered werewolves will award the free spins bonus round.
The Savage Numbers and Stats
As mentioned earlier, don’t let the simple game design give you the wrong impression about Night of the Werewolf. The RTP on this highly volatile game ranges from 95.57% to 96.85%, depending on which special symbols are selected for the free spins. The low bet sizes from 0.05 to 10 credits should keep the risk in check to avoid heavy busts.
The enormous line wins in the base game and free spins continue to be the main attraction on many Merkur slots. On Night of the Werewolf they range from 20x to 1,000x your stake. Plus, three to five scatters will award 10x to 200x the total stake. The top win in a single spin can be achieved in the free spins only, peaking at a massive 6,000x the initial bet. The game is designed in today’s standard HTML5 format, making it available for play on any desktop, mobile and tablet device across all OS platforms.
Free Spins With a Special Twist
Three to five Werewolf scatters anywhere on the reels in one spin will award 10 free spins, which can be retriggered indefinitely. At the beginning of the round, players can select one of the symbols present on the spin as the special symbol. On every free spin, the game first pays line wins as in the base game, plus any potential scatter wins. In addition, the special symbol will expand to cover all positions on the reel. Wild symbols do not substitute and expand in the free spins. Pays are then awarded for any new payline wins coming from the expanded symbols, irrespective of which reels they are on.
For example, when the knife is selected as the special symbol and three are seen to land scattered on a free spin, they will expand and pay a three-of-a-kind for every payline. The game mechanic is known from other slots such as Magic Mirror, Book of Ra and Book of Dead.
To hit the maximum win of 6,000x the bet on a single spin of Night of the Werewolf, a player needs to select the top-paying symbol for the free spins. This will add more volatility to the bonus round, as the symbol appears less frequently than a low-value symbol. Hitting five on a payline will award the standard line win of 1,000x the bet, before they expand to pay the same amount five times – once for each of the five paylines.
Other Reels With Expanding Symbols
The pay mechanic with expanding symbols has been around a few years, probably close to a decade. Novomatic was the first the use it on the Book of Ra slot. The high popularity saw other providers apply it to their own creations. In 2014 Play’n GO released Rich Wilde and the Book of Dead, while Amatic came out with Book of Aztec. More recently, Big Time Gaming created the mother of expanding symbol slots with Book of Gods, a masterpiece of slot design with 243 ways to win and cloning symbols in the base game and free spins.
Our Final Verdict
Night of the Werewolf sees Merkur Gaming taking its characteristic high-variance slot making to a new level. Reducing the paylines from ten to five adds another layer of volatility to the gameplay. No doubt, Merkur and HV fans will line up to give the new kid on the block a proper spin, as the win potential of 6,000x their bet is just too enticing. Merkur’s decision to limit the bet size to 10 credits is commendable, as it keeps the risk of heavy losses somewhat in check. Do you dare to spin the monster slot?
